Drug Court strives to help offenders avoid jail time, rebuild lives and relationships

A standing-room-only crowd shuffled and sighed in the upper-floor courtroom of the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson on Thursday night, packed into a room normally reserved for legal proceedings.

Thursday, a different kind of proceeding was held.

Drug Court graduation drew more than 70 family members, friends and program graduates, and about 20 Drug Court staffers to honor the 10 graduates.

Drug Court administrator Sheila Sauer said the 32nd Judicial District is exceptionally fortunate to have this program, which serves as an alternative to jail time for people charged with drug- or alcohol-related offenses.

The 32nd Judicial District includes Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties, and this Drug Court is one of 149 similar programs in Missouri, serving more than 4,800 participants, as of February, according to Drug Courts Coordinating Commission data.

Family members and supporters react to James Fornkohl's poem at the 32nd Judicial District Drug Court graduation Thursday at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson.KASSI JACKSON

Drug Court started in the 32nd Judicial District in 2001, Sauer said, and has made immeasurable difference in several lives.

Taxpayer money is saved if offenders can get clean rather than go to county lockup, Sauer said, and beyond that, if people can build a life for themselves that includes a full-time job, a vehicle, a home, that is beneficial in more than just financial ways.

Those benefits are quantifiable, but, Sauer said, there are a lot of non-monetary benefits, too. Family relationships are repaired. Children are reunited with sober parents.

That�s not to say the program is easy.

Judge Scott Lipke addressed the graduates and the audience Thursday, saying, �Anyone who thinks it�s easy to get through this program is wrong.�

Sauer said Drug Court is an alternative to jail time for certain non-violent drug offenders, and if a case is referred to her from a judge, she presents it to the Drug Court team, made up of treatment providers, law-enforcement officials, social workers, parole officers and others who weigh the merits of each case and decide whether an offender is a good candidate for the program.

If an offender is accepted, they�re put on five years� probation as a condition of participation, Sauer said. Then the participant is put on a strict regimen of drug testing, therapy sessions, 12-step meetings and case-manager meetings � heavy accountability, Sauer said, and structure to help the participants learn responsibility and break down destructive behaviors that accompany addiction.

The program is built of four phases, Sauer said, gradually lessening in intensity to allow participants time for jobs and family.

Since each participant�s path is different, there isn�t a set time frame that every step must be completed, and the structure is intentionally designed to allow for personal setbacks � and growth.

Graduates stood, one by one, and addressed the gathered throng, speaking on their personal journeys, their struggles, their gratitude.

Mattie Rider said she�d gone from being up on robbery charges to being in a management training program at her job.

�It is possible to change,� Rider said. �But the program is not going to work if you don�t want it to.�

Rider said quitting drugs and alcohol was easy. It was the �little everyday things� that were hard.

Lipke said the role of family members was extremely important in each graduate�s recovery process. From providing car rides to appointments and meetings and drug tests to providing housing, emotional support and other help, family members� participation is necessary, he said.

Even repairing relationships where bridges had been burned is a big part of what Drug Court helps with, Lipke said.

Most of the graduates mentioned their families as the reason for participating in Drug Court.

�My parents are hands down the strongest people I�ve ever met,� graduate Taylor Clark said. Her voice broke as she continued, and sniffles from the audience echoed back at her.

Each goal was different. Graduates wanted their children back, at the beginning, and said they got considerably more benefit than they originally bargained for.

Graduate Jessica Kight said the program taught her how to believe in herself again, and showed her people who cared about her and her progress believed in her.

She said she drew strength from that, and she hadn�t expected it.

Graduate Heather Griffaw said she learned responsibility.

Graduate Logan Hennecke said he learned that to keep himself sober, he was going to need to keep himself a little bit uncomfortable, to remind himself every moment of every day why his sobriety is important.

Hennecke said he�s brought people into his life who will hold him accountable, including his wife, married just last weekend.

Lipke said he sometimes heard from people who don�t understand Drug Court and why it�s necessary, since, they say, addiction is a choice.

�Maybe that�s true, at first,� Lipke said, but once the behaviors, the drug�s effects get inside, there are physiological effects.

�You may have felt ashamed, at first,� Lipke said. �Not anymore. You shouldn�t. Everyone who came into this program had worth. We couldn�t have helped you if you didn�t want it.�

Lipke then encouraged the graduates to stay engaged, and to approach their fight as a lifelong process rather than a finished footrace.

After the ceremony, Sauer marveled at the process.

�It�s amazing,� she said. �Lives can go from the worst to the best of times. This just never gets old.�

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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